Small Business Requests for Mentor Assistance Soar by One Third

As the economy tightens, an increasing number of small business enterprises are seeking assistance from Business Mentors New Zealand's independent volunteer mentors.

"In the last three or four months we have seen a surge in demand for our mentoring services, in the order of 33% per cent more than the same period last year," says Ray Schofield, chief executive of Business Mentors New Zealand  (BMNZ), which is a fully funded service of Business in the Community Limited.

"Since December we've also noticed that a lot more of these businesses are in crisis situations, requiring urgent  assistance in areas like improving financial management,  cash flow and debt collection,  as well as enhancing sales and marketing strategies to achieve better cost-benefit results." 

Since its inception as a charity in 1991, Business in the Community has helped more than 47,000 small businesses throughout New Zealand, using a network of almost 1600 volunteer mentors, all of whom are experienced business people with expertise in many different fields. 

"We can cover just about any type of business and industry, all 190 business sectors," Ray says.  "In addition, we have specialists in areas like information technology, international trade and exporting, communications and marketing, production and distribution, human resources, legal, general management, administrative, finance and accounting.  We also have an extensive resource library for use by mentors in helping clients."

Any business which has been trading for at least six months, and employs less than 25 employees, qualifies for the mentoring service, which is free apart from a $100 + GST registration fee.   The costs of running the mentoring programme are met by BMNZ's corporate sponsors and other donors, representing 70% of the budget, while 30% is funded by the Government through NZ Trade and Enterprise.

"The health of small businesses is critical to New Zealand's economy," Ray comments.  "About 97% of all businesses in NZ employ 19 or fewer people, and 86% employ fewer than six people.  Their on-going success is vital if our country is to continue to generate employment, wealth and a good quality of life for our citizens."  
  
He adds that most businesses have enjoyed favourable circumstances over the last decade of good economic growth.  During these years BMNZ has helped many small businesses to grow and prosper.

However, since September last year, when the global recession really started to hit home, there has been a major turnaround in demand for mentoring services to help small businesses better cope with the downturn.    These days, much more importance is being put on ensuring business survival by improving financial management and cash flow.

"For many small businesses, the first step to improving financial management is to have a good accounting system which allows the business owner instant access to accurate financial figures and reliable management reports, as well as solid cash flow forecasts and debtor profile details," Ray says.

"Consequently, I'm pleased that one of our national patrons, Accomplish Ltd, has not only just renewed its corporate support for Business Mentors,  but is also making available the new 2009 edition of its popular CashManager accounting software  to our network of 15 regional agencies.  This means that our mentors, and the clients they serve, now have access to the latest accounting software."

"For your typical small business, I recommend Accomplish CashManager as being extremely simple and user friendly for business owners who may lack accounting or IT expertise, yet it is also powerful and robust software that represents the most cost effective accounting package."

Accomplish general manager Grant Hewson says the company has been supporting the Business Mentor programme for the last three years as an important means of helping small businesses in New Zealand.   "We're also offering to provide CashManager training for any mentors not familiar with the software, as well as for their clients if necessary."

Grant adds:  "We would encourage other companies to become Business Mentor sponsors as a means of helping many smaller firms and of giving something back to the community.  Larger companies might also want to consider making good people available to help as business mentors, particularly if they are contemplating moving to a nine-day fortnight.  The 10th day could then serve the community through mentoring."

Ray Schofield says any extra support would be most welcome.  "With demand for our services increasing, we are going to need additional sponsorship and funding, to be able to meet that demand.   Similarly, we are always looking to expand our network of volunteer mentors."

Further information on Business Mentors can be found on their website, http://www.businessmentors.org.nz/.